


Inequity

by Reioka



Series: Flash Fics [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Flash Fic, M/M, Mentioned but not graphic injury, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 20:52:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15494433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reioka/pseuds/Reioka
Summary: Steve and Bucky don't know why Tony thinks his life is worth less than theirs.





	Inequity

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the sentence prompt: “I will never apologize for saving your life, even if it costs me my own.”

Inequity

 

Steve was expecting a kiss when he was released from the infirmary. Not something mind-blowing, maybe, but at least something chaste, something sweet. Something small and intimate. Hell, even just a hug.

 

What he got was a slap across the face, reopening his split lip.

 

“How dare you,” Tony seethed, so angry that he’d gone red in the cheeks. “What makes you think you’ve got the right–”

 

“Honey,” Bucky said, putting a hand on Tony’s arm and firmly pulling him back from Steve. “Stop.”

 

Steve stood up straight, scowling. “I have every right in the world to protect the men I love, Tony, and that includes you.”

 

“Not to the detriment of your own health!” Tony exclaimed.

 

“That’s really rich comin’ from you, doll,” Bucky drawled, aiming for levity but falling flat because of the truth in his words.

 

Tony whipped around to glare at him. “And what’s  _that_  supposed to mean?”

 

“So it’s okay if you throw yourself into dangerous, life-threatening situations to save us, but if we try to do the same for you, we’re in the wrong,” Bucky said with just a tad of a disparaging tone to it, raising his eyebrows at him skeptically.

 

“Of course,” Tony replied, like it was the simplest thing in the world for him to do.

 

Steve and Bucky stared at him, speechless, and maybe a little hurt. Tony had said it so guilelessly, like he expected them to believe it too, as if his life wasn’t worth as much to them as theirs were to him.

 

While they tried to figure out what to say beyond ‘what the fuck, Tony,’ Tony stepped closer and carefully cupped Steve’s cheek. Steve leaned into it immediately, because as mad as he was, he couldn’t miss the tremors of Tony’s palm against his jaw, the shaking of his fingers against his cheekbone. His thumb trembled as it traced his bottom lip, brushing the blood away from the cut on it.

 

Tony was just scared, Steve realized, and he covered it in anger. It killed him that Tony really believed their lives were worth more than his, but he could understand fear amplifying into anger. Tony had never been  _allowed_  to be scared when he was young–he had only been allowed to be mad.

 

“I’m sorry,” Tony whispered, brushing his thumb over Steve’s lip again. “I’m sorry, Steve.”

 

“Tony,” Steve said firmly. “I need you to understand this before we talk about anything else.  _I will never apologize for saving your life_ , even if it costs me my own. You are worth it to me. You are worth my life, and if I can save you, I will.”

 

Tony’s breath hitched, and he jerked back as if Steve had physically struck him.

 

“Same goes for me,” Bucky added, reaching out to grab his shoulder so he couldn’t run away, like he so often did when he didn’t want to talk about things that were personal, things that could hurt him. “Doll, sometimes I think you don’t understand how much we love you. I feel like you think it’s me an’ Stevie together and you’re extra. You’re not. You’re a piece of our whole, and we’d be devastated without you.”

 

“I don’t want to talk about this,” Tony said, voice shaking, not meeting their eyes. “I don’t–please. I can’t.”

 

Steve grabbed his wrist and lifted it so he could nuzzle into Tony’s hand again. “You had a terrible scare today, and you’re overwhelmed. I get that, so we won’t talk about it now. But we’re going to talk about this later.”

 

Tony looked miserable at the prospect and whispered a desperate little, “ _Please_.”

 

“It’s happening, Tony,” Bucky agreed quietly. “We care about you, but we’re not going to work out if you have different standards for us than we have for you. It’s not. And we want to keep you, so we’re gonna have to talk this out.”

 

Tony was silent for a few minutes, and it was torture, waiting, but Steve felt all the anxiety flow out of him when Tony’s hand slid back to twine his fingers in his hair, and the shoulder relaxed under Bucky’s hand. Being with Tony was hard sometimes, but it was always worth the effort when something clicked in Tony’s brain, the way he looked like a problem he’d been puzzling out had suddenly clicked into place. It hurt, how many of those problems seemed so simple to them, but were so difficult for Tony.

 

They’d keep trying, though. Tony was worth it.


End file.
